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Friday, July 8, 2016

An innovative
solution targeting smallholder farmers in Meru County has helped Mr. Nkanata
Mwitari, a 75 year old farmer from Karindine village, Imenti Central to improve
his agribusiness.

Mr. Mwitari
started farming in 1963 after quitting alcohol and drug addiction. However, he
only started keeping farm records from January 2016 after joining Farm Record Management Information System
(FARMIS). The innovation by Sokopepe Ltd
supports the agricultural sector in Kenya by offering market information
through SOKO+ and farm
records management services through FARMIS.

His interest rose
when FARMIS Production Information Agents (PIA) visited his farm early this
year and took him through the benefits of joining the innovative service. The visit
enabled him to see the value of his farm and the importance of concentrating on
high value crops.

“I had to talk
with my son who lives in Nairobi to send me the subscription fee. After joining
FARMIS I was given a farm book and the PIA also opened my online account,” said
Mr. Mwitari.

His journey in
farming started at a tender age after he lost his father, which prevented him
from going to school. Although he has never had a formal employment, he has
managed to educate his eight children through proceeds from his farm. Two are graduates while the rest have college
and secondary education.

Mr. Nkanata Mwitari applying fertilizer to his onions

He believes
that only hard work can make people live a better life. He always spends a
minimum of six hours a day tending to his farm together with one permanent
employee and casual farm workers or attending agricultural forums.

In August 1961,
he started contract farming for French bean companies. However, after some few years,
he shifted to banana and coffee farming due to reduced French beans prices
caused by increased production.

He said that
good coffee and banana prices during 1970-1980 enabled him to purchase a 3-acre
farm. He then increased the number of coffee trees to 700 but the number
reduced in 1990.

“Farming lost
its meaning around 1990 due to low and fluctuating prices. Since then I have
been shifting from one crop to another and each season prices of commodities
always varies,” says Mr. Mwitari.

He is glad
that Sokopepe is providing market information, as he is now able to query for
market prices across different towns in the County. He noted that lack of market information led
to the formation of Karindine Horticultural Group to enable farmers aggregate
and source for markets for bananas, tomatoes, onions, and cabbages.

He said that
the group has a ready market for bananas as they are selling a kilo at Kshs 15.
He hopes that Sokopepe will help them find market for their crops.

Through
FARMIS, Mr. Mwitari is monitoring the progress of his dry onions, which is on
an eighth of an acre. He has invested over Kshs 30,000 but he expects to
harvest over 4,000 kilograms in August. He hopes that the market information
that he is able to access through Sokopepe will enable him to earn close to
Kshs 400,000.

“I wish I had
joined FARMIS in 2014 when it was piloted in Meru. I am sure my agribusiness
would have really grown by now. However, I believe that a journey of a thousand
miles starts with a single step and I have embarked on that journey,” said Mr.
Mwitari.

He said that the
extension services provided by PIAs has enabled him to know how much he is
investing in each enterprise and projected income from each crop. In addition, every
week a PIA visits him to check the progress of his crops and to assist him fill
the farm book.He has urged other
farmers to join Sokopepe and embrace record keeping as a way of determining profitable
crops and the enterprises that are ‘eating’ into their profits. In addition,
the record keeping data would enable them to plan their farm enterprises.

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